Tani swallowed hard against the bile rising in his throat. He had to remain strong. He couldn’t let his partner know of his own misgivings. On his world, a Harvester was a duty held in the highest regard. Because he was chosen, his family was treated almost like royalty, receiving money from the Crown and the monastery, being invited to the most exclusive parties, living in luxury. Tani couldn’t take that away from them.

This world was strange and sometimes terrifying. The buildings towered so high as to be almost mountainous. The last time he had come through the gateway, he had nearly been crushed by some sort of motorized conveyance. It moved much faster than the steam carts the wealthy people on his world used. Keena had been frightened and wanted to go back through the gateway, but Tani had wanted a closer look. He could see no evidence of a steam engine on the strange contraption and he wanted to know what made it move so quickly and smoothly.

He wondered what this world looked like in the daylight hours. A Harvester always worked at night, cloaked in the protective shadows of darkness.

Tani shook his head, unwilling to get distracted as he moved closer to the man walking slowly down the sidewalk in front of him. It was quiet and no one else was in the vicinity. A gentle breeze blew through the leaves of the few trees planted along the sidewalk. The night was warm, much like it would be back on his world.

Tani crept quickly and silently, moving behind the man, who didn’t even turn around. He could barely hear Keena as she followed close behind, ready with the magical stones that would open the gateway back to their home world.

He tightened his grip on the club in his right hand. The man in front of him walked through some deep shadows. Tani lunged forward and brought the heavy wooden club down on the back of the man’s head.

***

“So what do you have for me?”

Detective Elliott Robins pulled on gloves as he talked to one of the cops on the scene. He ignored the gawkers straining to get a better look at the body.

Bloody vultures.

“Male, Caucasian, name is Gerald Forbes,” the cop said.

Eli wracked his brain, trying to remember the cop’s name. He’d seen him half a dozen times throughout his seventeen year career but the man’s name eluded him.

God, I need a drink.

“Cause of death?” Eli asked.

“It’s a toss-up between blunt force trauma or multiple stab wounds, take your pick. We’ll know more when the medical examiner does the autopsy.”

“Detective, I found something.”

Eli glanced to Sherry Abeyta. The petite medical examiner looked like a child kneeling next to the body. He walked quickly toward her, his six foot, seven inch frame easily covering the distance. Eli sidestepped the little yellow flags with the grace and ease of many years of experience working in the field.

“What’ve you got?”

“I took a closer look at the stab wounds and noticed something interesting.” Sherry unzipped the body bag and pushed it open. “Notice anything about the placement of the wounds?”

Eli took a minute to examine the body. The man was laying face-up. His skin was covered in blood and there were several deep wounds to the abdomen. His chest was opened wide, like he had undergone open-heart surgery. Eli carefully turned the body so he could see the side and part of the back.

“Large gaping wound to the chest and a single wound on the posterior side of the back directly above the kidneys. Can I assume there’s another slash mark on his right side?” Eli asked.

Sherry nodded but refused to say another word.

Eli peered into the chest cavity and hissed in revulsion.

“Are you kidding me? The perp took the man’s frigging heart?”

“And both kidneys.” Sherry covered the victim’s body and rolled easily to her feet.

“Who knows about this?”

“Just us.”

“Let’s keep it that way. Make sure the press doesn’t get wind of this.”

Eli pulled his gloves off, grimacing as he wiped his sweaty palms on his slacks. Working crime scenes in the summer were the worst. He left to find the first officer on the scene so he could get the names of the next of kin. He needed to call and tell them their loved one had been brutally murdered.